Six Nations: England coach Eddie Jones expects Marcus Smith to excel on Six Nations debut

England head coach Eddie Jones is certain Marcus Smith will flourish on his Six Nations debut at Murrayfield despite inevitably being targeted by Scotland.

Smith was preferred by Jones to George Ford to start in the much anticipated Calcutta Cup encounter, one of the biggest challenges in the 22-year-old’s budding Test career. 

Expected to handle the pressure

Jones threw himself behind the young fly-half and believes there is “no reason” why Smith will not continue his progress as a Test player.

“I’m sure Scotland are going to come at him. Scotland brag about being able to get into the psychology of England, don’t they? So let’s see on Saturday,” Jones said.

“We feel Marcus is ready to keep progressing his Test career. Every young 10 starts off at the stage where there are doubts about his experience to handle the pressure of the situation.

“At some stage they play a game bigger than they’ve ever played and it’s all part of their learning curve.

“I’ve got no doubt Marcus has got the desire and the drive to be one of the best 10s in the world and this game on Saturday will be an opportunity for him to continue his progress.

“We just want to see him keep improving. He’s going to have some bad days. We understand that. But we feel he has the desire and the work ethic and he’s definitely got talent.

“Talent is not something we have to debate. I don’t think anyone can debate that. But talent doesn’t make you a great Test player. Desire and your work ethic does. And a curiosity to keep learning. He is high-ranking in all of those areas.

“There’s no reason why he can’t handle Saturday. He’s stuck between someone who has played 112 caps (Ben Youngs) and then Henry Slade and Elliot Daly who are both four or five-season Test players.

“Elliot has got over 50, Henry’s getting to 50 – he’s not short of experience around him.”

Smith emerged from a successful autumn with his reputation enhanced, signing off the series with a mature display against world champions South Africa.

But in the poor conditions predicted for Murrayfield, the challenge will be striking the right balance between listening to his attacking instincts and providing the right game management.

“It’s always about judgement. Looking up, what’s the opportunity? Is it the right time? Is it the right field position?” Jones said.

“He’s a good decision-maker. You’ve only got to watch what he did against South Africa where against the best team in the world he was able to get us from our 22 to their 22 and to kick the goal to win the game.

“He made calculated decisions on when to move the ball and when to kick the ball and he’ll do that again on Saturday.”

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